Roger Geller's in town- Roger Geller is Portland's Bicycle Coordinator and has been responsible for a great increase in cycling and cycle infrastructure in that city. He is touring NZ as part of his visit for the Walking and Cycling conference this month.- He'll be giving a presentation in Wellington on February 21 at the Film Archive from 5:30pm-7:30pm- Eleanor hopes to go on behalf of CAW. Everyone is invited to attend (invite attached). RSVP as soon as you can to cycling [at] wcc [dot] govt [dot] nz

Love to Roll 2012- Frocks on Bikes Valentine's Day ride this Sunday, Feb 12 - come one, come all. Meet at Oriental Bay beach (next to the playground) at 12:30pm for a 1pm departure to the Island Bay festival.

Review of Go By Bike Day- The Wellington event was successful with over 500 people attending despite the terrible weather. -New member, Jeff, commented that the operation was ‘slick' and he picked up a CAW membership form which encouraged him along tonight.-Lower Hutt event had a good breakfast but was a bit disjointed with little information provided or someone tying it together. - Need to include politicians in some way next year and give them credit for their good bike-related work.

Wellington City Council and Greater Wellington updates- WCC has put in a funding application to NZTA for $4 million for the Southern cycling route. They propose to start the in-depth investigations in the 2012/13 year. - Greater Wellington has released updated regional cycling maps - they'll be found in bike stores and in GW foyer. They're free. - Greater Wellington are trialling 3 bike hooks in the luggage compartment of the Wairarapa trains. They will also be moving luggage into the main carriage to make more space for bikes during this trial.

SASTRAG meeting (Safe and Sustainable Transport Reference Advisory Group.....i think?)- David attended last one in December. WCC have the sharrow trial on their things to do this year list but don't currently have the time resource to do it. - ‘Bus and Bike lane' signage is currently not possible as NZTA rules don't allow for it - WCC considering using ‘No cycling' in Bus only lanes. - Bus lanes along Courtenay, Kent, Cambridge and Adelaide being rolled out right now. - Signalised pedestrian crossing planned at Chews lane exit across Willis St.

Issues for next SASTRAG meeting in March- No parking (or dumping dumpsters) needs to be enforced during Thorndon Quay clearway hours and along Kaiwharawhara stretch regardless of Parkwise profits. - Is there a solution to improve Russell Tce in Newtown for cyclists who have to suddenly slow - can the footpath be shared path for that stretch? - Marking or enforcement to stop people parking at Balaena Bay- Can Bunny St be opened to cyclists to create a safer route through to Molesworth St and the Terrace? Crossing lanes to do right turns off Featherston and Whitmore is unneccessary and dangerous. - Can we put a ‘Bikes take the lane' sign outside Karori tunnel uphill?

Cycle Aware Wellington subsidy for Walking and Cycling conference- 2Walk and Cycle Conference to be held in Hastings this month - February 22-24.- Programme and information found at http://www.hardingconsultants.co.nz/2walkandcycle/- Cycle Aware encourages its members to consider going and will cover the cost of four member's registration fee. - Contact info [at] caw [dot] org [dot] nz if you're interested in going. - Brian and Hilleke expressed interest.

Potential Bike Future conference- Bicycle Victoria has approached us about hosting a Bike Futures Workshop, similar to the one Auckland Transport hosted last April - see programme at http://www.bv.com.au/general/bike-futures/93339/- Is CAW interested in hosting something like this in May, in collaboration with GW and WCC?

Big Bike Fix Up- Claire received a query as to why Wellington didn't have any of these organised- Hutt City Council is holding one in Avalon Park this Sunday 12 - 2pm. They are looking for volunteers to help out. If you are interested email Jan Simmons at jan [dot] simmons [at] huttcity [dot] govt [dot] nz- Revolve Cycling Club are having a Bike and Bike Bits sale at Southern Cross on Sunday, Feb 26 from 5pm. Claire will investigate the possibility of including a ‘Fix-up' element.

Grant to make videos- WCC awarded Cycle Aware $3500 to make a series of 6 cycling videos with a focus on safety. - What do we want them to be about - please fill in the very short survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/H277PVQ- Little Fighter films to put them together and post them on YouTube.

Signage along Evans Bay Pde- WCC thinks there may be too much signage about the shared path on this bit of road, and is asking Cycle Aware for our opinion. - Claire will find out more info about the exact piece of road and post on Facebook- Brian to ride with Jack from WCC along the route to scope out options. - Signs along Cobham Drive not as important as those around the bays, especially at transition points. - Could we use some bike stencil, vibraline or green paint marking on the road to deter people from driving or parking in the cycle lane?

Misc- A huge thank you to Frank Pearson for his $1000 donation to Cycle Aware Wellington. WOW! CAW to continue our regular work with these funds. - Thanks to our Cycle Aware volunteers who were up at the crack of dawn to help with Go By Bike Day - Hilleke and Mike, James, Emma, Patrick (and anyone else I've accidentally left off) thank you!!!!!- If you've got some great ideas for CAW - send them through to info [at] caw [dot] org [dot] nz